Free Sandrift: A Lin Hanna Mystery by Sharon Canipe Page A

listening intently as Pete
Midgett began to fill them in on the story of Liz Frazier.
    Lin took out a
pen and a small note pad and began to jot down some of the basic facts of the
case.   She realized that Pete
Midgett had paused and was watching her.
    “It helps me to
focus on what you are telling us,” Lin explained. “I just want to be sure that
I understand what happened.   I find
that sometimes I can easily forget details if I don’t take notes.   That isn’t a problem is it?”
    “Not at all,
I’m a note taker myself,” Midgett replied.   He continued to review the story.   Lin had read much of it in the newspaper account of Dorrie’s death, but
she did note some interesting items of information, and she had some questions.
    “It seems that
robbery was the motive for Liz’s murder.   What is this jewelry that you keep mentioning?”
    “That is not
entirely clear,” the Sheriff replied. “Apparently, Liz claimed to have found a
diamond ring, pendant, and earrings while searching a wreck uncovered near
Hatteras Point during a heavy gale. I realize you folks are relative strangers
to this area, but shipwrecks of all sorts have happened here for
centuries.   The shipping lanes are
better protected now, but in earlier days ships often went aground on reefs
just offshore.   Even smaller boats
could be caught when trying to navigate the inlets and sounds.   The sands here are always drifting.   A boat grounding during a storm can be
pounded to destruction quickly.   Nowadays storms come through and the sands shift; wrecks are uncovered
on or near the shore only to be re-covered by a later storm.
    “Liz was a
treasure-hunter in her spare time.   Lots of folks do that as a hobby. They search the sands for lost
items.   They especially like to hunt
for things around the remains of old wrecks that are uncovered.   It is rare to find anything much of
actual monetary value, but it does happen.   Unfortunately, Liz was also a partier and a heavy drinker.   Apparently she bragged to her friends
about the find.   Some folks believed
her and some didn’t.   Most had not
actually seen the stuff but…”
    Lin
interrupted, “So, the motive for Liz’s murder was robbery; someone wanted that
jewelry?”
    “That’s the
most likely scenario,” Midgett replied. “Dorrie was Liz’s housemate at the
time.   Liz usually rented out a room
to help meet expenses.   It’s likely
that Dorrie had the opportunity to see the jewelry and realize it was
valuable.   Of course, she also
disappeared about the time Liz was killed.   We never located her, and we never found the jewelry either.”
    “Who else might
have known about the jewelry, might have seen it? You must’ve had other
suspects, at least at first.”   Lin
probed for more information.
    Pete Midgett
bristled a bit at the implication and sat back in his chair, “We most certainly
did a thorough investigation.   Liz
had bragged at Tim’s Bar and Grill. We talked to Tim and to as many of his
customers as we could locate.   None
of them claimed to know anything about the jewelry except what they heard from
Liz. Most of them probably didn’t even believe her.”
    “Billy Thornton
runs the local pawn shop in Nags Head.   We checked him out too.   He
said Liz showed him some fancy stuff, said it looked pretty valuable to him and
he wouldn’t handle it for her.   Billy said it was ‘too rich for his blood.’   He told her to talk to folks here in
Manteo, some of the dealers who knew about jewelry and such.   He thought it might have been antique
just from looking.   We checked with
everyone we could think of but none of them had seen Liz, or her jewelry.”
    “So, any of the
guys at Tim’s bar or even Billy Thornton could have committed the crime?” Lin
supposed.
    “ Well, you can
say that, but we checked everyone out, alibi’s and all.   There was no supporting evidence for
anyone.   That left us with
Dorrie.   She had